Resonant reed relay



Nov. 16, 1965 J. M. WILLIAMS 3,218,408

RESONANT REED RELAY Filed March 26, 1963 FIG. 1

United States Patent Ofiice 3,218,408 Patented Nov. 16, 1965 3,218,408 RESONANT REED RELAY Joseph M. Williams, North Chili, N.Y., assignor to Electra Networks, Inc, Caledonia, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 268,103 4 Claims. (Cl. 200-91) The present invention relates to resonant reed relays.

An object of the invention is to provide a miniature resonant reed relay which is economical to manufacture and easy to adjust to a desired frequency.

Another object of the invention is to provide a supporting member formed of insulating material for the relay carrying the coil winding, reed, contact member, and magnet.

A further object of the invention is to provide a relay having an adjustable contact for engagement by the reed in which the contact is pivotally mounted on a supporting member carrying the coil and reed and an adjustable disk on the supporting member is operable to adjust the position of the contact relative to the reed and retain the contact in adjusted position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a relay in which a tubular casing rigidly mounts and encloses a supporting member formed to provide a bobbin for wanting a coil and supporting portions at opposite ends for mounting the reed at one end and an adjustable contact at the other end with a manually operable adjusting member accessible through the end of the casing for adjusting and retaining the contact in adjusted position relative to the reed. A cover is applied to seal the end of the casing after the contact is adjusted and the other end of the casing carries a plurality of terminals on a header sealed on the other end for connecting the coil, reed and contact in external electric circuits.

These and other desirable objects may be attained in the manner disclosed as an illustrative embodiment of the invention in the following description and in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross section through the resonant reed relay constructed according to the present invention on a substantially enlarged scale with the cross section through the outer portion offset from the cross section through the central portion.

FIG. 2 is a transverse cross section taken on line 22 of FIG. 1 showing the reed mounting.

FIG. 3 is a transverse cross section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1 showing the magnet mounting.

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross section taken on line 44 of FIG. 1 showing the contact and adjusting member.

FIG. 5 is a transverse cross section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 1 showing another portion of the contact and its mounting.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross section of the end of a supporting member mounting the disk for adjusting the contact showing a modified construction for rotatably mounting the disk on the supporting member.

FIG. 7 is an end view of the modified construction shown in FIG. 6.

The relay as shown in the several views of the drawings is enlarged to substantially six times its normal size for clearly illustrating the details of construction. The size of a relay for commercial use may be approximately one and =one-quarter inches in length and approximately onethird of an inch in diameter.

The relay embodies the well known principle of a cantilever beam that is magnetically biased at one end and clamped at the other end while the opposite end is free to vibrate when an electromagnetic field of sufiicient density is applied. The beam or reed will vibrate at its greatest amplitude with a minimum applied electromagnetic field created by a suitable signal when the field is applied to the reed coil at the mechanical resonant frequency of the reed.

According to the invention, the relay has a supporting member 2 formed of a suitable plastic or other insulating material such as nylon. The supporting member 2 is formed with a bobbin section having a tubular portion 4 and end flanges 6 extending radially from opposite ends thereof. A reed supporting section 8 is formed of a cylindrical extension or sleeve on the outer margin of one of the end flanges 6. The cylindrical extension is arranged in coaxial relation with the tubular portion 4 of the bobbin beyond one end thereof. The reed supporting section 8 has the cylindrical extension or sleeve formed with an inwardly extending positioning flange 10 on the inner wall in longitudinally extending relation.

A mounting block 12 is of cylindrical shape and has a size to form a close sliding fit in the sleeve forming the reed supporting section 8. The block 12 has a longitudinal slot 14 formed to slidably receive positioning flange 10 for fixing the position of the block with reference to supporting member 2. The block 12 is formed with a transverse slot 16 in the inner end for receiving the crosshead 18 on one end of the reed 20. The transverse slot 16 has a fixed relation with respect to longitudinal slot 14 for assemblying the reed 20 in a predetermined position in the supporting member 2. The reed 20 has the shank 22 extending from the crosshead 18 forming the vibratory cantilever beam extending through and beyond the portion 4. The shank 22 is in the form of a long thin strip of sheet metal of suitable ferro magnetic constant modulus material, such as Ni-Span. The shank 22 is ground along a transverse cross section near the crosshead 18 to a predetermined thickness with substantial accuracy so the shank will have a natural or mechanical vibration frequency of a known value.

The block 12 may be made of suitable powdered metal molded to form the longitudinal and transverse slots with accurate dimensions so the block will have a tight fit in the sleeve forming the reed supporting section 8 with the end wall seated against the end of the adjacent flange 6 of the bobbin. The crosshead 18 will closely fit in the transverse slot 16 and silver solder will be used to rigidly secure the reed 20 to the block 12. The longitudinal slot 14 closely fits positioning flange 10 and a suitable bonding agent may be used to rigidly secure the block 12 in the reed supporting section 8. The strip forming the reed may be plated with silver or other suitable material to eliminate corrosion and provide the portion which engages a contact with a coating of material that will avoid or substantially reduce arcing and corrosion in the electrical contact area hereinafter described.

The supporting member 2 has a contact supporting section 24 formed on the opposite end of the bobbin section from the reed supporting section 8. The contact supporting section 24 extends longitudinally from the end flange 6, with which it is integral and has a recess 26 extending transversely through the central and one side portion thereof to form a positioning shoulder 28 at one side of the passage through tubular portion 4 arranged in a predetermined fixed position with respect to positioning flange 1'9, longitudinal slot 14, the transverse slot 16 and reed 20. This shoulder provides means for fixing the posit-ion of a U-shaped Alnico permanent magnet 30 to the reed 20 about the shank 22.

The permanent magnet 30 has the ends of the legs positioned in recess 26 at opposite sides of the passage through tubular portion 4 beyond the end and in spaced relation at opposite sides of the shank 22 of reed 20. The terminal faces on the pair of spaced parallel legs of magnet 30 are flat and arranged in coplanar relation, see FIG. 3, to engage opposite end portions of the positioning shoulder 28 to locate the permanent magnet on the support-ing member 2 in the desired fixed position with respect to opposite sides of the shank 22 of the reed to magnetically bias or tension the reed a desired amount. The magnetic bias will vary according to the requirements of different customers and the location and character of the apparatus or use of the relay. The permanent magnet 30 is U-shaped and has spaced parallel ends rigidly mounted in the recess 26 and secured to the contact supporting section 24 by a suitable means such as a bonding agent.

The outer end of the contact supporting section 24 is formed with a tubular bearing portion 32 in alined relation with tubular portion 4. The shank 22 extends through and beyond the outer end of the tubular bearing portion 32. The end face of the contact supporting section 24 is formed with an offset portion 34 about one side of the tubular bearing portion 32. The contact supporting section 24 is formed with a hole 36 extending longitudinally through the marginal portion thereof opening at one end of the oflset position 24. This hole 36 extends through the radial flange 6 of the bobbin section and has an alined slot 59 formed in the radial flange 6 and reed supporting section 8.

A contact 38 is formed of a length of Phosphor bronze spring tempered small wire, which may be gold plated or otherwise plated to eliminate corrosion, and has a pivot portion 46 rotatably engaged in the hole 36. The

outer end of contact 38 has a crank portion 42 formed in the wire in which the wire extends radially from the end of the pivot portion 40 along the end face in the offset portion 34, then outwardly in parallel relation to pivot portion 40 and then toward the pivot portion in spaced parallel relation. A terminal portion 44 on the wire extends from the outer end of the crank portion 42 and is formed to have a length of the wire at the terminal arranged to extend in spaced relation along one side of the shank 22 of the reed 26. The rotation of the contact 38 on the pivot portion will move the terminal portion 44 toward and from the adjacent side of the reed 20 to control the position so that vibration of the reed will engage it with the contact 38 to close the circuit through the reed and contact. The time during which the reed is engaged with the contact 38 is of very short duration and may be approximately one-twentieth or five percent of each cycle of operation.

The position of the terminal portion 44 of the contact 38 is controlled by a manually operable member or disk 46 formed with a center aperture receiving the tubular bearing portion 32 for rotatably mounting the disk. The outer end of the tubular bearing portion 32 is flanged outwardly to a limited extent for retaining the disk 46 rotatably mounted thereon against endwise movement. The disk 46 is applied to the tubular bearing portion 32 by forcing it over the flanged outer end. The plastic material is suificiently resilient to facilitate application of the disk in this manner. The disk 46 has an eccentric slot 48 formed therein through which the outwardly extending part of the crank portion 42 extends for engagement and operation of the contact 38 by the disk. The outer face of the disk 46 has a socket 50 formed in the outer marginal portion so a pin may be manually engaged therein for rotating the disk to adjust the position of the contact 38 to space the terminal portion 44 at the desired distance from reed 20. The disk 46 is normally held in adjusted position on the tubular bearing portion 32 by the friction between the bearing portion and the disk and between one face of the disk and the adjacent end face of the contact supporting section 24. The walls of the disk 46 forming the eccentric slot 48 engage the crank portion 42 and rotate the contact on pivot portion 40 for moving the terminal portion 44 toward and from the reed 20 according to the direction of rotation of the disk in adjusting the position of the contact to the reed. The offset portion 34 receives the radially extending portion of the crank portion 42 at the inner face of the disk 46.

A modified form of mounting for the disk is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The contact supporting section 60 of the supporting member has the outer end formed with a tubular bearing portion 62 in alined relation with the tubular portion of the bobbin section. This bearing portion 62 has an annular radially extending retaining and bearing rib 64 formed on the outer surface intermediate the ends. A manually operable member or disk 66 is formed with a central opening to receive the tubular bearing portion 62. An annular recess is formed in the disk for receiving bearing rib 64 for retaining the disk 66 in assembled relation thereon so it may be rotated to adjust the contact 38 relative to the reed. The disk 66 is forced over the bearing rib 64 because the material from which the parts are made will facilitate this method of application. The disk 66 is formed with an eccentric slot for receiving the crank portion 42 of the contact 38 in the same manner as the disk 46. It will be understood that this modified construction provides a different form of construction for mounting the disk on the supporting member and that otherwise the disk 66 is a duplicate in construction of the disk 46.

A coil winding 52 is applied to the bobbin section about the tubular portion 4 between the end flanges 6 before the reed, magnet and contact are assembled on the supporting member. The ends of the Wire in the coil winding form leads 53 and 57 respectively which are extended through radial slots 59 in the radial flange 6 and reed supporting section 8. A lead 61 is extended from the inner end of the pivot portion 40 of the contact 38 through the alined slot 59 in the flange 6 at the other end of the bobbin section and reed supporting section 8. Another lead 63 is extended from the block 12 for the reed 20. These four leads and the wiring used in the coil winding are suitably insulated in a conventional manner. The permanent magnet 30 is magnetized by conventional means prior to assembly and the reed is soldered to block 12 prior to assembly in the supporting member 2.

The relay parts assembled on the supporting member 2, as above described, are inserted into a tubular casing 54 in which the peripheral portions of the radial end flanges 6, reed supporting section 8 and contact supporting section 24 slidably engage the inner walls of the casing 54. An insulating disk 55 has the four leads extending through spaced openings therein and is positioned against the outer end of the block 12 and the supporting member. A header 56 of conventional form has four insulated contacts or terminal pins extending therethrough in sealed relation and a key projection of conventional form for orienting the connections to the contacts in a well known manner. This header 56 is inserted to close the end of the casing adjacent the reed supporting section 8. The casing 54 has a hole 65 formed therein between the header 56 and the reed supporting section 8 through which an epoxy resin is introduced in melted form to fill the space between the header and insulating disk 55 and the supporting member after the leads from the coil, the contact and the reed have been connected to the inner ends of the contacts on the header. The lead 61 from the contact 38 is connected to the terminal pin 68 on the header. The lead 57 from one end of the coil 52 is connected to the terminal pin 70 on the header. The lead 63 from the reed 20 and the block 12 is connected to the terminal pin 72 on the header 56. The lead 53 from the coil 52 is connected to the terminal pin '74 on the header. These connections are made in the usual conventional manner. The assembled casing is then evacuated in order to seal and attach the header on the casing and the supporting member 2 and block 12 to the casing. Additional resin is added through the hole in the casing to fill the end space within, if necessary. The assembled relay is then placed in an oven and the resin cured.

The reed may have a portion of the free end ground off in making a correction for changing the frequency of vibration. When this correction in the relay is completed, the operator engages a wire in the socket 50 of the disk 46 and adjusts the position of the terminal portion 44- by rotating the disk in either direction to position the terminal portion 44 at a distance from the reed where the reed will engage the terminal portion 44 to close the circuit with a minimum of power input in the coil Winding 52. Then, the disk 46 is cemented to the contact supporting section 24 and the wall of the casing for rigidly retaining the supporting member and disk against relative movement in the casing.

A cover 58 is then soldered to the open end of the casing to completely enclose the relay. When the relay is completely enclosed by the casing, cover and header, it is shielded against the effects of stray magnetic fields externally of the casing which may be formed by the equipment in which the relay is assembled.

By mounting the reed on the block 12 and securing the block in the supporting member 2 in fixed relation to the contact mounted on the other end of the supporting member, the construction of the relay is simplified so that the parts can be made in miniature sizes. The provision of the adjustable contact on the supporting member carrying the adjusting disk member 46 also facilitates miniature construction and accurate adjustment of the contact after assembly in the casing so the relay can be tuned to the desired frequency for efficient operation.

This relay has many uses in various types of control circuits, particularly where the circuits may be remotely controlled. This relay is useful in mobile radio telephone communication apparatus where a resonant reed relay of this type may be used to condition an individual receiver for operation in response to a particular tone or frequency.

It is seen from the foregoing disclosure that the objects and purposes of the invention are well fulfilled. It is to be understood that the foregoing disclosure is given by way of illustrative example only, rather than by way of limitation, and that without departing from the invention, the details may be varied within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A resonant reed relay comprising a supporting member of insulating material formed with a bobbin section having a longitudinally extending tubular portion and outwardly extending flanges forming enlarged heads at opposite ends thereof, said head at one end of said tubular portion having a longitudinally extending cavity of greater diameter than said tubular portion, said head at the opposite end of said tubular portion having a laterally extending cavity, a reed mounting block fixed in said 1ongitudinally extending cavity, a reed of ferro magnetic strip material mounted in said reed mounting block and extending therefrom through said tubular portion and through said laterally extending cavity and projecting beyond said enlarged head at said opposite end of said tubular portion, a U-shaped permanent magnet mounted in said laterally extending cavity and having spaced parallel legs located on opposite sides of said reed, said enlarged head at said opposite end of said tubular portion serving as a contact supporting section, a contact adjustably mounted on said contact supporting section having a terminal portion for engagement with the portion of said reed which projects beyond said enlarged head during a predetermined vibrating movement thereof, and a coil winding wound around said tubular portion between said enlarged heads, whereby said coil winding, reed and contact may be connected into electric circuits for vibrating said reed when a current of predetermined character is passed through said coil winding to engage said contact and close a circuit connected to said reed and contact.

2. A relay as claimed in claim 1, wherein a manually operable member is rotatably mounted on said contact supporting section for rotation about an axis of rotation extending longitudinally through said tubular portion and having an eccentric slot engaging a portion of said contact for moving and holding said terminal portion thereof in adjusted position relative to the adjacent portion of said reed.

3. A resonant reed relay comprising a bobbin formed with a longitudinal passage, a reed having one end mounted at one end of said bobbin and extending through said passage with the free end extending beyond the other end of said bobbin, a contact supporting section mounted at said other end of said bobbin, a contact pivotally mounted on said contact supporting section having a terminal portion positioned for engagement with the free end of said reed when vibrated at a predetermined frequency, and a disk rotatably mounted on said contact supporting section about said reed having an eccentric slot receiving a portion of said contact between the pivotal mounting in said contact supporting section and said terminal portion, said disk being rotated into different positions for moving said terminal portion of said contact toward and from the free end of said reed and for retaining said contact in an adjusted position with the terminal portion spaced a desired distance from said reed, a coil winding on said bobbin, and means for housing said bobbin, coil, reed and contact and providing for electrical connections between said reed, contact and coil winding with electrical apparatus externally of the housing means.

4. A resonant reed relay comprising a supporting member of insulating material formed with a bobbin section having a longitudinally extending tubular portion and annular flanges extending outwardly from opposite ends, one of said annular flanges having a sleeve extending outwardly from the outer marginal portion in coaxial relation, a positioning flange on said sleeve extending inwardly in substantially radial relation, a block formed with transverse and longitudinal slots having a predetermined relation to each other, a reed formed of an elongated metal strip having one end rigidly mounted in the transverse slot in said block, said block being rigidly mounted in said sleeve with said positioning flange engaged in the longitudinal slot in said block with said reed extending through and beyond the tubular portion of said bobbin section, a contact support portion formed on the other annular flange of said bobbin section having a transverse recess forming a positioning shoulder having a fixed relation with respect to said positioning flange on said sleeve and located at one side of said tubular portion, said contact support portion being formed with a tubular bearing portion in substantially coaxial relation with said tubular portion of the bobbin section and receiving the free end portion of said reed in spaced relation, a U- shaped magnet mounted in said transverse recess in the contact support portion with the ends engaging said positioning shoulder and receiving said reed between the legs in spaced relation for positioning said magnet in predetermined relation to said reed, a contact formed of a wire having a pivot portion rotatable on the marginal portion of said contact support portion, a crank portion extending from said pivot portion and a terminal portion carried by the crank portion in spaced relation to said pivot portion movable toward and from the adjacent end of said reed, a disk rotatably mounted on the tubular bearing portion of said contact support portion having an eccentric slot receiving said crank portion of said contact for rotating said contact on the pivot portion to move said terminal portion toward and from said reed and retaining it in adjusted position, a coil winding on said spool, a casing having the supporting member rigidly engaging the inner walls thereof and enclosing all of the parts mounted thereon, said casing having a closure sealed on the end adja- 7 cent said disk, and a header mounted on the other end of said casing having a plurality of contacts connected in the casing to said coil winding, contact and reed and adapted to have external circuits connected thereto.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,486,394 11/1949 Eannarino 20090 8 Viol.

Side 200-90 Riley 200-91 X Howell 20090 Fischer 200-90 BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT K. SCHAEFER, Examiner. 

1. A RESONANT REED RELAY COMPRISING A SUPPORTING MEMBER OF INSULATING MATERIAL FORMED WITH A BOBBIN SECTION HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING TUBULAR PORTION AND OUTWARDLY EXTENDING FLANGES FORMING ENLARGED HEADS AT OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF, SAID HEAD AT ONE END OF SAID TUBULAR PORTION HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING CAVITY OF GREATER DIAMETER THAN SAID TUBULAR PORTION, SAID HEAD AT THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID TUBULAR PORTION HAVING A LATERALLY EXTENDING CAVITY, A REED MOUNTING BLOCK FIXED IN SAID LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING CAVITY, A REED OF FERRO MAGNETIC STRIP MATERIAL MOUNTED IN SAID REED MOUNTING BLOCK AND EXTENDING THEREFROM THROUGH SAID TUBULAR PORTION AND THROUGH SAID LATERALLY EXTENDING CAVITY AND PROJECTING BEYOND SAID ENLARGED HEAD AT SAID OPPOSITE END OF SAID TUBULAR PORTION, A U-SHAPED PERMANENT MAGNET MOUNTED IN SAID LATERALLY EXTENDING CAVITY AND HAVING SPACED PARALLEL LEGS LOCATED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID REED, SAID ENLARGED HEAD AT SAID OPPOSITE END OF SAID TUBULAR PORTION SERVING AS A CONTACT SUPPORTING SECTION, A CONTACT ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED ON SAID CONTACT SUPPORTING SECTION HAVING A TERMINAL PORTION FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PORTION OF SAID REED WHICH PROJECTS BEYOND SAID ENLARGED HEAD DURING A PEDETERMINED VIBRATING MOVEMENT THEREOF, AND A COIL WINDING WOUND AROUND SAID TUBULAR PORTION BETWEEN SAID ENLARGED HEADS, WHEREBY SAID COIL WINDING, REED AND CONTACT MAY BE CONNECTED INTO ELECTRIC CIRCUITS FOR VIBRATING SAID REED WHEN A CURRENT OF PREDETERMINED CHARACTER IS PASSED THROUGH SAID COIL WINDING TO ENGAGE SAID CONTACT AND CLOSE A CIRCUIT CONNECTED TO SAID REED AND CONTACT. 